On Debuts Part One

First times are always hard. The experience may end up being exhilarating, mind – blowingly amazing or just a disaster, but the fact remains that no matter how many times you do it again, you will never forget your first time. The nervousness, the unease and, most of all, the uncertainty – “will it be any good? I hope I don’t screw up and the whole thing is not over too soon.“ We all know these worries.

I am, of course, talking about having your first book published.

And now that I reeled you in with my clever innuendo – this is the first of the (hopefully) short series of reviews of debuts that came out in the past few years. This, of course, is just my own opinion and you are more than welcome to disagree with it. In any case, I hope you enjoy these little features. Some of them are more well – known than the others, and I hope that when you read about one that is a bit off the radar, you would at least ponder picking it up.

Now, without further ado:

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (2007)

Kvothe is a teenager of very distinct looks whose parents were killed by mysterious strangers of mythical origins. After their deaths he goes on to attend a magic school where he excels at everything he tries without much effort, although the only thing he wants to achieve is avenging his parents and friends.

If that short intro got you groaning and slapping a label “Stu“ on Kvothe’s forehead you fell into the same trap I nearly did when I first heard of Patrick Rothfuss’ debut, Name of the Wind. True, the characterization may imply the book being abysmal at best, but this could not be farther from truth. What Name of the Wind is, is a briliant example of taking a seemingly well – known concept that has been done to death and does not really interest anyone anymore, and executing it in a way that makes the finished product a treat to read.

Name of the Wind is anything but generic. First, we get to meet the main protagonist for the first time long after the events which turned him into a legend occurred. And does he get his happily ever after? No. What we see is a broken and borderline lethargic young man acting like a much, much older person, who is haunted by what he had done and what had happened. Not only metaphorically. He even lives with a fake name because he is wanted by the law for what he had done. A twist which does a fantastic job to pique the reader’s interest, in the humble opinion of this reviewer. The narrative is mostly in first person, switching to third in the very beginning, the very end and during brief interludes. This helps framing the story and giving it a sense of wholesomeness, despite the fact that this is only the first installment in the series.

To be honest, one of the reasons I was put off by this book is that most of it is written in the aforementioned first person narrative style. This is very hard to do right and I have read enough books written in this style that turned out simply horrible (Dead Until Dusk by Charlaine Harris, and, of course, the infamous Twilight series) which I think can often be attributed to the fact that the first person narrative is more often than not used because the point-of-view character is the authors self – insert, what then tends to slide the story into the wish – fulfillment.

However, this is not the case with Name of the Wind. Kvothe has a very distinct personality portrayed in a manner that endears him to the reader quickly and it is not too long before you realize you find yourself actively cheering for the guy. This is first person writing at its best. You are in the head of the main character and in the end, you feel like you know him, as if Kvothe was a real person. And not only because of the efficient use of the POV of choice – he doesn’t only have good traits, he also has some bad ones, he could very well be a textbook example of a multi – dimensional character. Kvothe is a faster learner than most and something of a prodigy, but he is also snarky, sarcastic, hopeless and ridiculously proud. Especially the last item on the list is what gets him into a whole lot of trouble and even when he has a choice to back down and let the whole thing be, he refuses and foolishly continues.

Also, the fact that the main story is being told in retrospect means that Kvothe has remarks on his past actions, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes he just shakes his head at how much of a fool he had been when he was younger. Again, just like a real person would. The way especially this character is fleshed out is what carries the narrative and achieves just what it is supposed to achieve – it presents the events of the book as they were seen first – hand and through how much impact they have made on the character, they make as much impact on the reader. Which is very important, because Name of the Wind does not end with a climactic, epic big – scale scene. Now don’t get me wrong, plenty happens throughout the course of the story, but rather than reaching a climax, it remains consistently strong and even though it does not have a booming ending, after you flip the last page you will find yourself satisfied and, most importantly, wanting more.

One last thing I have to remark on is the magic system. Plenty of authors fell into the trap of developing magic systems that are either overly complicated, too simple to the point that there is a gross asymmetry between the system itself and what it can actually do, or just plain illogical, if it is explained beyond “it’s magic”. The one Rothfuss presents in his debut is one of the most logical and sensible systems I ever witnessed in any written work of fantastic fiction. The author himself is a scientist and from the very first explanations how magic in Kvothe’s world actually works, this background is very prominent. Magic is similar to chemistry or physics – it appears simple, but there is so much more to it than that. The magicians themselves are more akin to chemists, physicists or engineers than the generic archetypal sorcerer we are used to. Never before could I say a magic system is flawless. That changed with Name of the Wind.

Overall, Name of the Wind is a debut that is strong in its every aspect, which is something very rare to see, and I hope that Kvothe’s story will only grow stronger from here on. If you ever get the chance, pick it up. You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you for reading,

Falconempress

P.S. The sequel, titled The Wise Man’s Fear is scheduled to come out in April

Visit the official website of the author for more information on his works and updates on http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/content/index.asp

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